Employment and unemployment as measured by the LFS - 2. quarter of 2021

Total employment in the Q2 2021 decreased by 41.3 thousand persons, year-on-year (y-o-y). The number of the unemployed, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) methodology, increased by 32.3 thousand persons. The number of the economically inactive including children up to 15 years of age increased by 7.8 thousand.

Employment
In the Q2 2021, the seasonally adjusted average number of employed persons increased by 8.2 thousand persons, compared to the Q1 2021.

The number of working persons aged 15+ years decreased by 41.3 thousand persons, y-o-y, i.e. by 0.8%, to 5 171.3 thousand persons. The number of working males decreased by 6.4 thousand persons and the number of working females decreased by 35.0 thousand persons.

The total number of the self-employed decreased by 56.6 thousand persons, namely due to a decrease in the number of the self-employed without employees (own-account workers) by 48.7 thousand. Concurrently, the number of the self-employed with employees (employers) slightly decreased by 7.9 thousand. The number of contributing family workers decreased, too, by 7.1 thousand persons. On the contrary, the number of employees increased by 22.4 thousand to 4 352.5 thousand.

The age structure of working persons has been changing for a long time. In a group of the employed in the younger productive age up to 45 years, employment decreased by 72.5 thousand. The decrease in that age was considerable both in females (by 43.8 thousand) and in males (by 28.7 thousand). On the contrary, an increase in the employed was in the age group of 45 to 49 years, namely by 37.3 thousand.

The frequency and structure of reasons why the employed did not work in the reference period (did not work a single hour) changed. The number of these employed persons significantly decreased, year-on-year, by almost a half (by 349.3 thousand). The number of working persons who did not work due to the so-called personal reasons, which included mainly cases related to the coronavirus pandemic (by 321.4 thousand) considerably decreased. The number of cases of absence due to incapacity for work and lack of work decreased, too.

According to data for the Q2 2021, development of employment in individual economic activities (CZ-NACE sections) in the Czech Republic was different¹⁾. Employment decreased in all of the three sectors of the national economy. In the secondary sector of industry and construction, employment decreased, y-o-y, by 27.5 thousand to 1 930.0 thousand, mainly due to a decrease in the number of working persons in manufacturing (by 48.5 thousand). While the number of working persons in industry decreased, the number of working persons in construction, on the contrary, increased, y-o-y (by 21.4 thousand). In the tertiary sector of services, the total employment decreased by 5.7 thousand to 3 111.1 thousand. As for this sector, the number of working persons decreased especially in the section of ‘accommodation and food service activities’ (by 28.0 thousand), in ‘wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ (by 23.0 thousand), in ‘transportation and storage’ (by 13.5 thousand), and in ‘administrative and support service activities’ and in ‘public administration and defence; compulsory social security’. On the other hand, employment in the sector of services substantially increased in the section of ‘information and communication’ (by 39.8 thousand), in ‘education’ (by 32.0 thousand), and in ‘financial and insurance activities’. In the primary sector of agriculture, forestry and fishing, the number of working persons decreased by 8.3 thousand to 130.0 thousand.

The development of the number of working persons according to the Classification of Occupations (CZ-ISCO) corresponds to the development of employment in individual sections of economic activities (industries). The number of working persons increased the most in the major group of professionals (by 103.0 thousand) and in the major group of managers (by 40.2 thousand). On the other hand, the number of working persons among the following decreased:  service and sales workers (by 57.3 thousand) and craft and related trades workers (by 55.2 thousand) and the number of technicians and associate professionals considerably decreased (by 33.5 thousand).

The development trend in the number of working persons according to the educational attainment is also related to those changes in the employment structure. The number of working persons with tertiary education considerably increased, by 109.5 thousand. On the other hand, the number of employed persons in both the most numerous groups of persons with secondary education without A-level examination and with A-level examination considerably decreased. The number of the employed with secondary education without A-level examination decreased by 88.5 thousand and the number of working persons with secondary education with A-level examination decreased by 38.5 thousand. The number of working persons with primary education decreased, too, by 24.4 thousand.

The employment rate (percentage of working persons in the age group of 15–64 years old) in the Q2 2021 decreased compared to the corresponding period of the previous year by 0.4 percentage point (p. p.) to 73.7%. The male employment rate decreased by 0.1 p. p. to 80.9% and the female employment rate dropped by 0.7 p. p. to 66.1%.

Unemployment
The seasonally adjusted average number of unemployed persons according to the ILO methodology²⁾ decreased in the Q2 2021 by 9.8 thousand persons, compared to that in the Q1 2021.

The total number of the unemployed aged 15+ years increased by 32.3 thousand persons, y-o-y, and reached 158.6 thousand persons. Primarily the number of the unemployed females increased by 24.9 thousand persons to 86.4 thousand persons, while the increase in the number of the unemployed males by 7.4 thousand persons to 72.2 thousand persons was significantly lower. The number of the unemployed increased the most in the Středočeský Region (by 11.0 thousand) and in the Moravskoslezský Region (by 7.3 thousand). The number of the unemployed increased rather more also in the Plzeňský Region (by 4.9 thousand). The number of persons unemployed for one year and longer increased by 18.9 thousand persons, y-o-y, and reached 45.2 thousand persons.

The general unemployment rate according to the ILO definition in the age group of
15–64 years old (the share of the unemployed in the labour force, i.e. in the sum of the employed and the unemployed) increased by 0.6 p. p. to 3.1% in the Q2 2021.

As for regional comparison, the general unemployment rate was the highest in the Karlovarský Region (5.6%) and in the Moravskoslezský Region (5.3%). On the other hand, the unemployment rate of the aged 15–64 years decreased the most in the Královéhradecký Region (by 1.1 p. p to 1.9%) and together with the Jihočeský Region (1.9%) it was the lowest in the Czech Republic.

Economic inactivity
The number of all the economically inactive persons including children up to 15 years of age increased by 7.8 thousand to 5 365.7 thousand. The number of economically inactive persons aged 15+ years remained almost unchanged, year-on-year, and was 3 644.0 thousand. The increase in the number of inactive females by 5.2 thousand was compensated by a decrease in the number of inactive males by 6.5 thousand.

In the sample survey, data are also collected on persons who do not work and do not seek a job in an active manner and therefore do not comply with the ILO conditions for the unemployed, yet they state that they would like to work. In the Q2 2021, the number of such persons was 113.5 thousand persons, i.e. by 4.2 thousand persons more than in the corresponding period of 2020. The number of persons who are willing to work, however, they are not able to start in a potential job immediately, is relatively high. Only 49.1 thousand of the persons are able to start in a job within a fortnight, at the latest.

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1⁾ Data for the aforementioned economic activities sections may be affected by the applied methodology of the Labour Force Sample Survey (LFSS). The survey covers only persons living in dwellings (flats), i.e. private households. Data for persons living in collective accommodation establishments are not measured; these establishments often give accommodation to foreign nationals.